From cjonline.com

Way to go, granny!!!!:Ore. woman, 88, gives naked intruder the 'squeeze'

The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said an 88-year-old woman fended off a naked intruder by grabbing the man's crotch and squeezing. Deputy Paul McRedmond said the man got into the house Tuesday through a sliding door. He backed the woman into her living room and pushed her face down onto a chair.

That's when the woman reached behind and squeezed. The man tore free and fled.

McRedmond said a county code enforcement officer who heard the police call on his radio spotted a car near the woman's house and passed on the license information to authorities.

Troutdale police arrested a 46-year-old man. He has been jailed on accusations of burglary, harassment and private indecency. Bail was set at $110,000.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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I didn't write this....

Diary of a Demented Snow Shoveler, written by someone who just moved back to snow country.

December 8 6:00 PM

It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our
cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift
down from heaven.

It looked like a Grandma Moses print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again.
I love snow!


December 9

We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape.

What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the whole world?
Moving here was the best idea I've ever had! Shoveled for the first time in
years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks.This
afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life!


December 12

The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment! My neighbor
tells me not to worry-we'll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on
Christmas would be awful! Bob says we'll have so much snow by the end of
winter, that I'll never want to see snow again. I don't think that's
possible.

Bob is such a nice man, I'm glad he's our neighbor.


December 14

Snow, lovely snow! 8 inches last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The
cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn't realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I'll certainly get back in shape this way.

I wish I wouldn't huff and puff so.



December 15

20 inches forecast.. Sold my van and bought a 4x4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife's car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a
wood stove in case the electricity goes out.

I think that's silly. We aren't in Alaska , after all.


December 16

Ice storm this morning. Fell on my ass on the ice in the driveway putting down
salt. Hurt like hell.

The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.


December 17

Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should've bought a wood
stove, but won't admit it to her. God I hate it when she's right.

I can't believe I'm freezing to death in my own living room.


December 20

Electricity is back on, but had another 14 inches of the damn stuff last night.
More shoveling!

Took all day. The damn snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they're too busy playing hockey. I think they're
lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have another shipment in March.

I think they're lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it
done and bill me.

I think he's lying.


December 22

Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white shit fell today, and it's so cold, it probably won't melt till August. Took
me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to piss.
By the time I got undressed, pissed and dressed again.

I was too tired to shovel.

Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter, but
he says he's too busy.

I think the asshole is lying.


December 23

Only 2 inches of snow today. And it warmed up to 0. The wife wanted me to
decorate the front of the house this morning. What is she, nuts?!! Why
didn't she tell me to do that a month ago?

She says she did but I think she's lying.


December 24

6 inches - Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the son of a bitch who drives that snow plow, I'll drag him through the snow by his balls and beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I've just been!

Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our
presents, but I was too busy watching for the damn snowplow.


December 25

Merry f---ing Christmas! 20 more inches of the damn slop tonight - Snowed in.

The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. God, I hate the snow!

Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the
head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she's a
fricking idiot.

If I have to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" one more time, I'm
going to stuff her into the microwave.


December 26

Still snowed in. Why the hell did I ever move here?

It was all HER idea. She's really getting on my nerves.


December 27

Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze; plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he only charged me $1,400 to replace all my pipes.


December 28

Warmed up to above -20. Still snowed in.

The BITCH is driving me crazy!!!


December 29

10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in.

That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?


December 30

Roof caved in. I beat up the snow plow driver, and now he is suing me for a
million dollars, not only for the beating I gave him, but also for trying to
shove the broken snow shovel up his ass..

The wife went home to her mother. Nine more inches predicted.


December 31

I set fire to what's left of the house. No more shoveling.


January 8

Feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am
I tied to the bed?

Hi there

Thought about making a new post last night , but fell asleep before I could do it. Everything is going ok on the homefront. I have really given up on selling this cute little house next year. I have more improvements to make, need to save more money, before I can even think of selling it. Besides, the economy needs to get better.I still have a lady that comes two times a month to clean. I do all of the cleaning inbetween. It is just a terrible time to sell a house right now, but it is a great time to purchase one. I am not one of those people who will buy a new, or newer house before the old one gets sold. Maybe I would if I had millions and millions of dollars in the bank, but I don't. I have to be practical with these decisions and my money. Hell, being practical and tight is really kinda second nature to me. Unlike those idiots in Congress. I have no trust in them. Taxes. I hate em. Guess it is just part of living in the grand ol USofA. Speaking of taxes, my property taxes , I have to write the check for them next week, personally speaking, and then I don't have to pay another bill, personally speaking, until January 5, 2009. Yay! Now if only Dennis would contact me, I have not spoken to him in over a year. I really miss his big BIG monster 8---> ::Giggle::

Credit card horror stories

I have never had any sort of real problem with any credit card company-however I have heard stories of the credit card companies holding payments. What I mean by holding payments is this: Say you get your bill on the 15th of the month and the entire bill comes to, lets say, 130 dollars. The balance is due on the 1st of the month. So you mail your check on the 16th of the month-plenty of time for the check to reach it's destination on or by the 1st. Lets say the credit card company gets your check on the 20th, and they decide to not cash the check until after the 1st of the month, and therefore they assess you a finance charge. What is to keep them from doing this? It is blatantly dishonest, I know, but I have heard of this happening to others. What is the proper recourse?

What am I Thankful for?

I am thankful that I live in the United States, where I can express my opinions freely and honestly. I am glad that others here have that right.I am thankful that I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food on my table, a good, honest family, electricity, clean, safe cold and hot running water, a few dollars in the bank, common sense, my pup, my medicines, and God.

President -Elect

Look, I don't like Obama. Hell, I didn't vote for the guy. But he was elected by the people fair and square. When he takes office in January, I will show him the respect that the office deserves. I will NOT behave very poorly like a lot of the Democrats(and some Republicans) did(and still do) when President Bush took office. If I disagree with President Obama on something, I will voice that, if I agree with him on something, I will voice that, too. The President works for you and I. I don't like his positions, but I will give him a chance.I hope that you do as well.
By the by, did anyone happen to notice that the price of oil has dropped and the cost of gas has gone down?

Patience

As some of you may already know, I am seriously wanting to sell my house and buy a newer one farther Southwest in my fair city. Well, tonight, after dinner , I went up and drove around a newer subdivision in my town full of the newer homes(some are still being built on site) and they are in my price range. I drove up there to sort of 'whet my appetite'.The house I am living in now is nice, and completely paid for as well, and I am tucking as much money away in savings as I can. The neighborhood that I am living in right now is nice, but is projected to start going downhill in about 2 or 3 years. The neighborhood that I want to move to looks to be a sweeeeet one. But the only way that I can put a great sized chunk of down payment on a new home is to sell my this one, and the housing market is not too great for selling right now. Yes, I have been told about renting out my current house, but to tell the truth, I just cannot be a landlord because I already have a full time company, and I know nothing about that kind of business. Housing rentals are not the kind of business that I want to be in anyway. So renting my house is out of the question. So, I guess that what I need right now is patience

Bankrupt?? How in the hell can they be bankrupt?????

No $3.2B Bankruptcy for Alabama CountyBy JAY REEVES, AP
posted: 21 HOURS 29 MINUTES AGOcomments: 37PrintShare
Text SizeAAABESSEMER, Ala. (Oct. 15) - Commissioners in Alabama's most populous county voted against filing the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history Tuesday and the federal government refused to guarantee the county's $3.2 billion sewer bond debt.

$3.2 Billion Bankruptcy?Dennis Lathem, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce / AP3 photos In less than 10 minutes Tuesday, commissioners in Jefferson County, Ala. -- home to Birmingham, the state's biggest city -- voted 3-2 to reject a resolution to seek bankruptcy protection for $3.2 billion in debt.(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)


The Jefferson County Commission rejected a resolution to file for bankruptcy on a 3-2 vote during a meeting that lasted less than 10 minutes.
Afterward, the governor's office said the Treasury Department had refused to intervene in the looming crisis, which started when the county made risky deals to pay for massive sewer system improvements after being sued over failure to meet federal clean water standards.
Officials say the area's water is safe after 12 years of work, but payments on the county's debt ballooned when the mortgage crisis struck and banks began tightening up on lending.
The majority of commissioners want to continue seeking an alternative to bankruptcy, which may involve refinancing the huge debt, budget cuts, sewer rate increases and a negotiated reduction of the amount owed to creditors.
"The only way Jefferson County can grow and prosper is to settle this short of bankruptcy," said Bettye Fine Collins, the commission president. Officials may have to slash spending by as much as $30 million, or nearly 5 percent of the county's $655 million budget, she said. The county could reduce services in its roads and sewer departments and close some county offices, she said.
But Commissioner Jim Carns said bankruptcy is the only realistic option, partly because Alabama's antiquated constitution requires legislators to approve possible solutions, including tax hikes, and such approvals are unlikely.
"Sooner or later people are going to realize that bankruptcy is the only way," Carns said.
Gov. Bob Riley, who was brought in to the debt negotiations by the commission, last week asked the federal government to guarantee the county's debt, a move that could have resulted in lower interest rates and payments.
But Riley's office said the Treasury Department had refused to include Jefferson County in a $700 billion bailout package approved by Congress, deciding that no municipalities would be allowed to participate.
A bankruptcy filing by the county, which is home to 658,000 residents and includes Birmingham, would nearly double the previous record of $1.7 billion, set in 1994 by Orange County, Calif.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-10-14 12:15:41

McCain and moving selling this old house

On John McCain:I cannot count him out here. I will not declare anyone a winner until November 4th. Regardless of who wins, I will be optimistic. I hope that Obama does not win. I swear to God almighty that I think the man is a Socialist, who hangs around with questionable people. I just flat out don't like his politics. But should he win, I won't blame everything that goes wrong on him. I will criticize him... I will criticize anyone who holds public office.. and I didn't like Clinton, but I prospered under his administration, I will prosper regardless of who is in high office Now, on to another subject. I believe that I have stated here somewhere that I will never move from my cute as pie little home. Well, I am kind of sorry to say that I was wrong. In about 5 years I plan to move to a bigger home. My little neighborhood will likely start going downhill in about that time. I hope that I can sell my cute little home for a fair price. I get excited thinking about it, and even check out some real estate websites.. and I am looking at mortgages, and saving my money for a good size down payment. But I have a few years yet, guess that I shouldn't get too ahead of myself...

More

Had more work on the homestead done today. The cleaning person came and her husband also came and did BUNCHES of work. It is all mostly cosmetic, but I tell you I am soooooo happy! Will post pics as soon as I get more. I have a newer armoire in my family room. It belongs to my mother, but it looks fabulous in my home. She had somebody bring it up and put it in. I have to save my $ because I am getting new countertops put in and also new flooring. I had new screen doors put in today as well. Heidi seems to like it. I can't wait to get back into dating. Now I don't have to be scared to bring men home LOL.

By the by 2

Oh and in case I forgot--- vote McCain/Palin in November!

By the by

I am still here still alive and doing well. I hope that you are too. I am still enjoying my work, my home, my pups, my family(thankfully I live alone LOLOLOLOLOL) my money, peace, love, and now if I could just get my health in order. Last week, I had some blood drawn. I will find out on Thursday what the results are. The homestead is sweet. Funny how things do happen. Back in January of this year, I would have been embarrassed to have anyone come over to my house, it was so awful. Looking back, I actually cannot believe that I, or anyone for that matter, could live like that. Then, on a Spring day- of this year, my sister, mother and cousin came by to see how I was doing as I was home sick from work that day. Needless to say, they were appalled(understandably) but overall, very non judgemental, and they were understanding , and I am now and forever greatful that they made the decision to see me on that day and now my home is FABULOUS. My home is nice, clean, and very presentable, and even though I am still shy and a bit of a homebody and a recluse, I am not afraid for people to come over or stop by. Hell, I even now have a lady that comes over twice a month to clean my house. She is excellent. I do some of my own house cleaning( and with an old dog with bladder problems I admit it is a tad difficult, but I manage to do it)

Labor Day

Tomorrow is Labor Day. Tomorrow is the Start of the Republicn national Convention. It will be a busy day for me as it is also payday! By the way, my house is still staying very cute. I will post more pics here soon. For now, enjoy the pics of cute puppies.:)

Sad News

Update: Two children die in car
Sheriff's deputies find twin 3-year-olds after search in Montara
By Phil Anderson
The Capital-Journal
Published Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 7:47 p.m. CDT
Twin 3-year-olds died this afternoon after being shut inside a car for more than two hours in the Montara area just south of Topeka, officials said.

The twins, a boy and a girl, were last seen about 1 p.m. and were reported missing about 1:40 p.m., officials said.

The children were discovered about 3:15 p.m. inside a silver, four-door Daewoo car parked in the driveway of their home.

Shawnee County sheriff's Sgt. Akim Reynolds said the boy was found in the front seat of the car. The girl was found in the back seat.

Sheriff's deupties performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on both children before emergency medical responders arrived on the scene.

The girl was pronounced dead at the scene. The boy was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to a Topeka hospital, where he was prounounced dead.

Reynolds said the doors to the car were unlocked.

The temperature at 2 p.m. was 77 degrees. Reynolds said the temperature inside a car with its windows up could be 20 to 30 degrees warmer.

Deputies responding to the children's home, 6801 S.W. Windsong, conducted a search in the neighborhood and enlisted the assistance of a Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter before the twins were found inside the car.

No foul play is suspected, though the mother was being questioned by detectives, Reynolds said.

Autopsies are to be performed on the children, and the case remains under investigation.

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One can only hope

One injured in rollover
The Capital-Journal
Published Friday, August 15, 2008
An eastbound Ford Explorer flipped over Thursday afternoon on Interstate 70 near I-470 and S.W. Wanamaker.

Joshua Bessette, of Topeka, was attempting to pass a vehicle on the left and lost control, according to a highway patrol report.



Ann Williamson / Topeka Capital-Journal
An eastbound Ford Explorer flipped over Thursday afternoon on Interstate 70 near I-470 and S.W. Wanamaker. Joshua Bessette, of Topeka, was attempting to pass a vehicle on the left and lost control, according to a highway patrol report. He was taken to an area hospital with injuries.

CJVideoRush Hour Roll Over Accident

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He was taken to an area hospital with injuries.

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Reader Comments
Posted by: pitafersure at Aug. 15, 2008 at 2:05:48 pm
How is this person still driving?

http://www.shawneecourt.org/doe/search.jsp?caseNumber=&first=Joshua&middle=&last=Bessette&CV=Y&CR=Y&DM=Y&PR=Y&TR=Y&mob=&yob=&location=internet

Posted by: pitafersure at Aug. 15, 2008 at 2:07:39 pm
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/27004679.html

Posted by: pitafersure at Aug. 15, 2008 at 2:13:44 pm
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/101303/dai_policefire.shtml

Posted by: hpgma5 at Aug. 15, 2008 at 3:19:16 pm
I wondered the same thing,pitafersure. He has been to court too many times to count for traffic violations and also some criminal charges. Maybe there needs to be a way to confiscate the car, not just his license since he apparently thinks lsws do not apply to him.

Posted by: pitafersure at Aug. 15, 2008 at 4:43:23 pm
No need to confiscate his vehicle, looks like he did that himself this time!

Posted by: wiseowl at Aug. 15, 2008 at 4:54:38 pm
Once a loser always a loser ahhhhh Josh?

OneRedKansan40 writes: This guy is a scumbag piece of shit and I hope he croaks.Soon.

Why I am not voting for Obama 2

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What Is a 'Windfall' Profit?
August 4, 2008; Page A12
The "windfall profits" tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a "windfall" profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit? Is it some absolute number, a matter of return on equity or sales -- or does it merely depend on who earns it?


Enquiring entrepreneurs want to know. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's "emergency" plan, announced on Friday, doesn't offer any clarity. To pay for "stimulus" checks of $1,000 for families and $500 for individuals, the Senator says government would take "a reasonable share" of oil company profits.


Mr. Obama didn't bother to define "reasonable," and neither did Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, when he recently declared that "The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy." Really? This extraordinary redefinition of free-market success could use some parsing.


Take Exxon Mobil, which on Thursday reported the highest quarterly profit ever and is the main target of any "windfall" tax surcharge. Yet if its profits are at record highs, its tax bills are already at record highs too. Between 2003 and 2007, Exxon paid $64.7 billion in U.S. taxes, exceeding its after-tax U.S. earnings by more than $19 billion. That sounds like a government windfall to us, but perhaps we're missing some Obama-Durbin business subtlety.


Maybe they have in mind profit margins as a percentage of sales. Yet by that standard Exxon's profits don't seem so large. Exxon's profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry average of 8.3%, or the 8.9% for U.S. manufacturing (excluding the sputtering auto makers).


If that's what constitutes windfall profits, most of corporate America would qualify. Take aerospace or machinery -- both 8.2% in 2007. Chemicals had an average margin of 12.7%. Computers: 13.7%. Electronics and appliances: 14.5%. Pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverages and tobacco (19.1%) round out the Census Bureau's industry rankings. The latter two double the returns of Big Oil, though of course government has already became a tacit shareholder in Big Tobacco through the various legal settlements that guarantee a revenue stream for years to come.


In a tax bill on oil earlier this summer, no fewer than 51 Senators voted to impose a 25% windfall tax on a U.S.-based oil company whose profits grew by more than 10% in a single year and wasn't investing enough in "renewable" energy. This suggests that a windfall is defined by profits growing too fast. No one knows where that 10% came from, besides political convenience. But if 10% is the new standard, the tech industry is going to have to rethink its growth arc. So will LG, the electronics company, which saw its profits grow by 505% in 2007. Abbott Laboratories hit 110%.


If Senator Obama is as exercised about "outrageous" profits as he says he is, he might also have to turn on a few liberal darlings. Oh, say, Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett's outfit pulled in $11 billion last year, up 29% from 2006. Its profit margin -- if that's the relevant figure -- was 11.47%, which beats out the American oil majors.


Or consider Google, which earned a mere $4.2 billion but at a whopping 25.3% margin. Google earns far more from each of its sales dollars than does Exxon, but why doesn't Mr. Obama consider its advertising-search windfall worthy of special taxation?


The fun part about this game is anyone can play. Jim Johnson, formerly of Fannie Mae and formerly a political fixer for Mr. Obama, reaped a windfall before Fannie's multibillion-dollar accounting scandal. Bill Clinton took down as much as $15 million working as a rainmaker for billionaire financier Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies. This may be the very definition of "windfall."


General Electric profits by investing in the alternative energy technology that Mr. Obama says Congress should subsidize even more heavily than it already does. GE's profit margin in 2007 was 10.3%, about the same as profiteering Exxon's. Private-equity shops like Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, which recently hired Al Gore, also invest in alternative energy start-ups, though they keep their margins to themselves. We can safely assume their profits are lofty, much like those of George Soros's investment funds.


The point isn't that these folks (other than Mr. Clinton) have something to apologize for, or that these firms are somehow more "deserving" of windfall tax extortion than Big Oil. The point is that what constitutes an abnormal profit is entirely arbitrary. It is in the eye of the political beholder, who is usually looking to soak some unpopular business. In other words, a windfall is nothing more than a profit earned by a business that some politician dislikes. And a tax on that profit is merely a form of politically motivated expropriation.


It's what politicians do in Venezuela, not in a free country.


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Why I am not voting for Obama

What Is a 'Windfall' Profit? - WSJ.com

Update

Well, my folks are heading out of town today. They are going down to Texas to pick up some equipment in San Antonio. They will stop in Tyler on their way to visit an aged relative. They return on Sunday. I have made the trip from Topeka Kansas to San Antonio, Texas and believe me, it is a doozy. I mean it is a long one. Talk about a loooong drive. I drove there with my grandpop years ago to pick up some equipment and had to stop and rest overnight in Waco(yes, THAT Waco). Actually, Waco is a pretty nice place. At least what I saw of it was. Anyhoo, while the folks are out, I am the one in charge of making sure that the money gets to the bank. I love doing this. Making deposits. I like to do paperwork, call me crazy.My manager is also out of town, gone on vacation to the Ozarks. Sounds kind of nice, but I just cannot be outside in this extremely hot weather. Yes, Topeka, Kansas , is undergoing a heat wave-heat advisory for the next week or so. I have to water mom's p[lants while she is gone every other day, too. I don't mind, considering all of the help she has given me with my house. It only takes about an hour and a half to do anyway, including the drive to mom and pops house.

Doom and Gloom

I just hate all of this 'doom and gloom' and 'lets blame America first' attitude that seems to mostly come from the political left leaners. Yes, the economy is slow right now, but this is normal. The economy goes in ebbs and flows. The war in Iraq is going, overall, well. The surge works. The sky is NOT falling, not anywhere even close. Buildings not on fire do not make the news. Sometimes I get the idea that some people read in their newspaper that a couple of buildings burn down , they assume that most buildings in that city are burning or have burnt down. I just don't get it.

Hi

Hello. Today is Thursday, July twenty-something. I forget the date. Yes, my legs are still getting wrapped because of the edema. So far, everything is going as expected. I am supposed to get my permanent edema garmets(they are called Circaids) either tomorrow or Monday. They will be delivered to the hospital, and I will go there and be fitted for them. They are not the sexiest things to wear, but at least I can now go back to showering twice a day at home after I get them! Hope they arrive tomorrow::knock on wood::

Pictures

Back

And so sorry it has taken me a long time to update this blog. Yes, my legs are both wrapped. It does not hurt, hell pressing on the edema hurt more, and I will have to wear these wraps for the next couple of weeks. I started on Monday, and the wraps are at least comfy. The therapist doing the wraps is excellent. Very patient with me. Only thing I really don't like is not being able to shower when I get home. Can't take the wraps off overnight cause then my legs swell back up. I go to work, then I have to leave for the therapist at just after 10 am.. get there to the office, then when I get to her office, unwrap, take a shower, get dressed and then she wraps me with my clean bandages. I will have to do this next week too. On weekends, even thought I work, I will have to sponge bath. Yuck! And in about 3 weeks I will have to go repeat a sonogram. Fun.

Controlling edema and shopping

Well, it looks like my compression wrapping will begin next week for both of my legs. I have had it done before(long story) and I am rather looking forward to it. It isn't painful and keeps my calves and feet warm.I love the massages too. I keep the AC on in my house cause it is just too dang hot outside. Only thing is, I will have to shower for 5 days at the office where the wrapping is done. Its ok its cool because it is a private shower. I had to buy my own wrappings though and those are kinda expensive. Thank God for shopping on line for those!Speaking of shopping, I had to go grocery shopping tonight-and at Wallyworld, no less. I hate shopping. I hate having to wait in long lines. A few weeks ago, I had my annual pap smear done and my dr thinks he found some endometrial cells somewhere. So on July 1st, I go in for a sonogram. Fun! I get to do the drink tons of water in an hour and you cannot go to the bathroom until after the sonogram is done game. Oh well. I guess I just gotta do it and get it over with! I am happy that Independence Day will be here soon, and I am going to my folk's place for an after work celebration. Best of all, I get to have not only my best dog, Heidi with me, but I get Zorn as well.!

The truth from George Will

Conservatives More Liberal Givers
By George Will


WASHINGTON -- Residents of Austin, Texas, home of the state's government and flagship university, have very refined social consciences, if they do say so themselves, and they do say so, speaking via bumper stickers. Don R. Willett, a justice of the state Supreme Court, has commuted behind bumpers proclaiming "Better a Bleeding Heart Than None at All," "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Beauty," "The Moral High Ground Is Built on Compassion," "Arms Are For Hugging," "Will Work (When the Jobs Come Back From India)," "Jesus Is a Liberal," "God Wants Spiritual Fruits, Not Religious Nuts," "The Road to Hell Is Paved With Republicans," "Republicans Are People Too -- Mean, Selfish, Greedy People" and so on. But Willett thinks Austin subverts a stereotype: "The belief that liberals care more about the poor may scratch a partisan or ideological itch, but the facts are hostile witnesses."

Sixteen months ago, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, published "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism." The surprise is that liberals are markedly less charitable than conservatives.

If many conservatives are liberals who have been mugged by reality, Brooks, a registered independent, is, as a reviewer of his book said, a social scientist who has been mugged by data. They include these findings:

-- Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).

-- Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.

-- Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.

-- Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.

-- In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.

-- People who reject the idea that "government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality" give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.

Brooks demonstrates a correlation between charitable behavior and "the values that lie beneath" liberal and conservative labels. Two influences on charitable behavior are religion and attitudes about the proper role of government.

The single biggest predictor of someone's altruism, Willett says, is religion. It increasingly correlates with conservative political affiliations because, as Brooks' book says, "the percentage of self-described Democrats who say they have 'no religion' has more than quadrupled since the early 1970s." America is largely divided between religious givers and secular nongivers, and the former are disproportionately conservative. One demonstration that religion is a strong determinant of charitable behavior is that the least charitable cohort is a relatively small one -- secular conservatives.

Reviewing Brooks' book in the Texas Review of Law & Politics, Justice Willett notes that Austin -- it voted 56 percent for Kerry while he was getting just 38 percent statewide -- is ranked by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as 48th out of America's 50 largest cities in per capita charitable giving. Brooks' data about disparities between liberals' and conservatives' charitable giving fit these facts: Democrats represent a majority of the wealthiest congressional districts, and half of America's richest households live in states where both senators are Democrats.

While conservatives tend to regard giving as a personal rather than governmental responsibility, some liberals consider private charity a retrograde phenomenon -- a poor palliative for an inadequate welfare state, and a distraction from achieving adequacy by force, by increasing taxes. Ralph Nader, running for president in 2000, said: "A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity." Brooks, however, warns: "If support for a policy that does not exist ... substitutes for private charity, the needy are left worse off than before. It is one of the bitterest ironies of liberal politics today that political opinions are apparently taking the place of help for others."

In 2000, brows were furrowed in perplexity because Vice President Al Gore's charitable contributions, as a percentage of his income, were below the national average: He gave 0.2 percent of his family income, one-seventh of the average for donating households. But Gore "gave at the office." By using public office to give other peoples' money to government programs, he was being charitable, as liberals increasingly, and conveniently, understand that word.

georgewill@washpost.com
Copyright 2008, Washington Post Writers Group

Tax stimulus payment

I am still waiting to get my wonderfully huge large GINORMOUS 600 dollar check from the Gubberment. Ha. I have recieved 2 letters regarding my stimulus check, and why in the hell does the government send me 2 letters? I mean, how much money did they spend sending everyone those letters when then could have just sent the checks? I wonder whose great idea that was up in the higher ups office. Ha!Sometimes I just don't understand people. Ever heard of the Windfall tax that the Dems are now trying to push? Talk about anti- prosperity. Talk about stupid.

I did not write this, I wish that I did!

I got this from the AOL news message board'The Think Tank':Democrats Block U.S. Oil Exploration (again)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008



WASHINGTON A Democrat-controlled House subcommittee on Wednesday rejected a Republican-led effort to open up more U.S. coastal waters to oil exploration.



Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., spearheaded the effort. His proposal would open up U.S. waters between 50 and 200 miles off shore for drilling. The first 50 miles off shore would be left alone.



The plan failed Wednesday on a 9-6, party-line vote in a House appropriations subcommittee, which was considering the proposal as part of an Interior Department spending package.



With record oil prices and gas prices projected to hover around the $4 mark for the rest of the summer, Republicans have ratcheted up their efforts to open up oil exploration along U.S. coastline. But the long-sought change has so far been unsuccessful.



Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., said: "There is no valid reason for Congress to keep the country from energy resources it needs."



"I'm disappointed. I did not expect a partisan vote today. I felt we had a chance of winning this. A lot of Democrats have been talking favorably about my amendment. They know we have to do something. But today was an absolute show of Pelosi power, it was dealt from the top down," Peterson said later, adding he was open to other energy solutions, including wind and solar power.



According to Peterson's office, the U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates that 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas can be found along the U.S. outer continental shelf, the area affected by the ban.



Peterson is not alone in his desire to open up the shelf. An effort to unlock the resources has been underway in Congress in recent years, and several interest groups are backing the effort, too.



"Tapping America's huge reserve of deep ocean energy helps us fight terrorism and increases our domestic energy supply, which will help put downward pressure on gasoline prices," Greg Schnacke, President of Americans for American Energy, said in a news release, adding: "With Americans suffering at the gas pump and with higher energy bills, it's a no-brainer that the OCS should be developed."



But the proposal has faced staunch opposition from environmental groups from states where the shorelines are under consideration for drilling, like Florida.



Sierra Club lands program director Athan Manuel told a House committee Wednesday that drilling has been unsuccessful in driving costs down.



"The disappointing part about some of the energy policies being promoted (is) that it calls for more drilling when drilling really is the problem. And all we've got to show for pretty aggressive (domestic) drilling for the last 35 years is, again, $4 for a gallon of gas," Manuel said, adding "since the first Arab oil shock in the 1970s, the U.S. has produced almost 90 billion barrels of oil since then, so we've tried drilling our way out of the problem and it just hasn't worked."



Environment Florida spokeswoman Holly Binns told the Media General news group that offshore drilling has no immediate impact on prices.



"It would take anywhere from seven to 10 years to bring those resources to shore to have any measurable impact on supply, Binns said, advocating renewable energy sources.



Democrats held their own series of events on Capitol Hill Wednesday to focus attention on global warming and energy independence, but drilling is not on the agenda.



Not surprisingly, the issue has spilled into the ream of presidential politics as well. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized Democrats, including fellow Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., over recent comments Obama made regarding gas prices.



The comments that McConnell referred to were given during an interview with CNBC. Discussing rising gasoline prices, Obama said: "I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing.



Obama also said that "if we take some steps right now to help people make the adjustment, first of all by putting more money into their pockets, but also by encouraging the market to adapt to these new circumstances more quickly, particularly U.S. automakers, then I think ultimately, we can come out of this stronger and have a more efficient energy policy than we do right now.



McConnell, honing in on Obama's referral to "gradual" price increases, said Obama's remarks are evidence that Obama believes "rising gas prices aren't the problem. The problem, he suggested, is that they've gone up too fast. He said he would prefer a gradual adjustment."



He continued: "Whether it's shutting down domestic exploration in large areas both onshore and offshore, instituting a moratorium on oil shale development, increasing the gas tax, or refusing to pursue coal to liquids, Democrats long ago implemented a 'gradual adjustment' on gas prices that's reflected today in the $4.05 Americans are paying for a gallon of gas."


Thanks , MIKEB!

Transliteration

Finally got the transliteration thing taken care of. For a time there, I thought that my computer was going insane, LOL

उस त्रेअसुरी Department

I got another letter today from the Department of the Treasury.Seems that I am getting six hundred dollars. Money that will be spent on my house.My letter went on to say that I should recieve payment around June 6. Today is June 2. My question is: Why did they even bother to send me a letter????? Why couldn't they have just sent the check??? Sometimes our government does things that I don't readily understand..

डेंटल disease

I have to go to the dentist tomorrow and get a cavity filled. I have to go back next week and get 2 filled. I really do not mind going to the dentist at all. The chairs are comfortable and even though I am terrified of needles(and I am a diabetic too, ha) the shots in my mouth do not bother me in the least. Just feel a pinch then the novocaine sets in and I am all good:)

Back

Well, I now have Cox Cable internet services. I even added a few premium channels to my television viewing. Ha! I just watched 'Rosemary's baby' on youtube now, and if it were not for Heidi in my back yard, I probably would not get any sleep. I am going to bed earlier these days. Last night, I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and woke up at 3:30 am and was wide awake. ! I was not sweating , and no headache when I arose. I will go to bed earlier from now on..

आउट विथ थे ओल्ड एंड इन विथ थे new

The title of this post is 'Out with the old and in with the new'. I am still not sure as to why my headings are not in English. Maybe I hit a wrong button somewhere. Oh well. Well, on May 23, I am ditching my DSL and switching to Cable internet. It is going to be faster than DSL. I have had DSL for maybe 4 or 5 years now, so I guess that it is about time I switched to something faster. When I went from dial up to DSL, I swore that I would never go back to dial up . Perhaps when I go to Cable, I will say the same thing about DSL. Oh hell, I know I will. I despise DSL right now, and I still have it. I can't wait to get rid of it and start the new relationship with Cable internet. Joy!

Ohhhh

And all of my windows in my cute little house are absolutely spotless now. I had a team come out and clean them up. It took them about 4 hours to do it. The windows had not been cleaned in the 12 years that I have been living here. Now they are the best looking windows I have ever seen. I have the best looking front yard and the best windows in my neighborhood!

मोठेर्स डे!

Why do my post headings keep coming up in Arabic?(at least I think it is Arabic, I am not sure) Anyway, I had the weekend off this weekend. Rare for even to take one day off for me! Anyway, my house is coming along swimmingly. It fact I would say that it is down right beautiful and read for some magazine covers!I still have to finish painting the guest bedroom and the bathroom. Both will be done in a beautiful pearl yellow, to brighten things up a bit. The Master bed room and the kitchen and the living room are painted in a pearl green. Pretty!. I am enjoying falling asleep to tv in my bedroom. My computer will be moved into the guest bedroom when that bedroom is finished. I e-mailed Dennis last night and he e-mailed back. He and I are ready for another get togethers, HAHAHA. That guy is HOT, and he is ::ahem:; a big guy(if you catch my drift, LOL) and I am going to be happy to show him my remodeled home.. among other things

Dentist

Went to the dentist today. I don't mind going. In fact, I almost fall asleep in the chair. I find it to be very cozy, even when getting a shot. I do have to go back and get some cavities filled though.

More

Pictures

Here are some great pics from my trip. Did not even get a second to take one in Wisconsin(damn) but I got some great ones of Hannibal, Missouri!

Ok.

No doghouses to be found anywhere at Lowe's that will work for my girl:(. But on a better, brighter note, I am getting a doghouse free from work! yay! and I know that it is perfect for her. Will need help from the guys as to getting it into my back ayrd. Well, enough about dogs and doghouses..Seems that my sister might have a tumor on her pituitary gland. Until a few days ago, I did not even know that tumors could grow on that gland. ! Well she had an MRI just a while ago, and blood tests a few days ago. Have not found out the results yet. I will call her in a few days and find out what is going on. Till then, I just won't worry about it. Does no good to . No sense in driving yourself crazy with worry about something you have no control over.Beddy bye time for me now. Good night world.

Heidi

Off to Lowe's to pick out a dog house for Heidi:)

M Family room

This is my family room. The pic does not show the whole thing, and yes the floor is going to be re-done, b ut it looks 100000000000000000000000000percent better than it did. Now, I still have to finish the bathroom, the guest room, and the kitchen. I am taking estimates on having the windows cleaned. Normally I would do them myself, but i have storm windows and I am told that they are a bitch to clean, so I am having them done. I am having laminate tile put on the kitchen floor plus (I think) in the bathroom. More pics as i get things done. Oh yes, and my yard man is coming to do my lawn( I am having it sodded, landscaped) on Wednesday. YAY!

My New Home(Ok I know it isn't new)

This is my bedroom. Nice hardwood floors, and great new designs (I went with New Orleans French style country)

Happy Sunday

Well, today my cousin Joni headed back to her home in Arkansas. I will be forever grateful to her for her help. Perhaps someday I can help her the way that she helped me. She is honest, funny, intelligent, and works her butt off!

Getting there!

Today, as was yesterday, I was exhausted all day. Work work work, which I love, but when you add my weight, I get tired out easy. My house is getting done. Yay! I am going with an old time New Orleans French country theme, and I am going to even have Laissez le bon roulement de périodes !
stenciled, or placed in my kitchen above my cupboards. The Family room is now painted a pearl green, which is one of my favourite colors. Every thing is dusted, cleaned, replaced , or new( I , thankfully have few new things added) I have a beautiful and very inexpensive couch put in. Tomorrow, I am having a technician come in and look at my windows that I am sad to say have not been cleaned in about twelve years. I am having a cleaning woman come out to my place twice a month to clean. Beyond that, I will keep it clean. It is such a cute home. The master bedroom is going to be painted in a pearl blue. I have new bedsheets, linens, and the guestbedroom is being repainted in a beautiful pearl yellow. Heidi is getting a dog house and she is going to stay out side, unless the weather gets bad. Much moving things and cleaning and work has been done, and most of it has not been done by me. I will forever owe a debt of gratitude to my family for helping me. My mother and my cousin did most of the work. In spite of the pet stains, the hardwood floors are turning out beautiful. To have them sanded down and some boards replaced plus having my kitchen floor laminated(Ok I only have one estimate thus far) will cost me approximately 2 grand. The money does not concern me all that much because I have much saved up, and I still am saving. Oh yes, and I am also installing a toddler gate for my Heidi, so she cannot escape into any of the other rooms(she will be allowed to come into the kitchen and the laundry room)Oh yes, did I say that sometime in the future, I am getting a flat screen television? Happy! Well, the floor comes first! As they say in New Orleans:Laissez le bon roulement de périodes !

Update ..

Today is April 6, 2008. I am feeling and doing much better. My family has really come full circle in helping me get my house in great shape! The bedrooms( I have 2) are in the middle of a wondrous makeover, as is my kitchen and family room. I owe a serious debt of gratitude to my family, especially my cousin Joni. She has been a GODSEND. I mean she has worked the hardest. I have also been working hard, doing some cleaning when I come home from work at night. I will post some pics when all is done. There is still work to be done.Tomorrow, I (ok we) get started on my guest bedroom.I promise here and now to keep my cute little house clean! I promise to post pictures when we are done. May take a while, and I have spent a little money, but it is definitely worth it. My mother and Joni are great decorators, which is great. I am not so hot in the decorating department but I am going to do great with the cleaning.

Disgusted and Depressed

yesterday, I was feeling reaaly bad. I became disgusted with myself. I cried a lot. I was so disgusted with myself for putting on so much weight that I can now hardly walk. I My back hurts all the time and my knees are starting to hurt. I stayed home from work most of the day yesterday. My sister,mother and cousin came over to my house unexpectedly and I was extremely embarrassed because my house is filthy. I have tried to keep it clean, but with all the weight I get tired easily. I did not want them to know what happened to my house. My sister said that she loved me, but could not stand being in the house because it stank. My mother had a very sad look on her face, and that upset me even more. She said that she wasn't mad. They said that they were not mad and understood what it feels like to be depressed.There is much renovation that needs to be done to my house, but they have agreed to help me do it. My cousin even tore out some of my carpeting while I was at work today.I did much cleaning last night, and some tonight.I feel bad for making them sad. They say that they are glad to help, and they gave me lots of hugs and are helping me and getting my house fixed up. I feel so ashamed.

Lap Banding update

Well, this getting the lap banding surgery prep is going slower than I though. Oh well I am in no big hurry to have it doen. I mean, I want it, need it, but there is a ton of prep work to do before surgery is done. I am hoping to have it done sometime later this year. I have taken a great interest in other things, too. For instance, Iam really getting the hang of my camera. I love it! I find that the battery on the camera can run down fairly quickly if I don't charge it up every few days. Other than that it is great. I am still debt free and I am going to stay that way. I am still listening to Glenn Beck and Dave Ramsey(those guys are great). I have not spoken with Dennis is a very long time. I think he has another girlfriend right now. Oh well.Jeff has moved to Kansas City. The last time I chatted with him, he was having some unspecified difficulties, and needs some time by himself. I may try to call him in a few weeks. I am still enjoying my classic tv and even more so since I have a new dvd player.Sex has not been in the picture for a while. I like being alone. I come home after work, and other than the tv and/or the dog, it is QUIET. I love it. This is my life. I don't think I will ever get married.Oh well. I don't dwell too much on it.

Big Baby!

Old bridge torn down, and new bridge going up

This is after the old Topeka avenue bridge was torn down and the new one is being built!

another great song

Great song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbu1EU9f-d4

This is who will be performing my surgery

Welcome to TallgrassTopeka.com

Sooooooooooo cute

Kitten talk

Pictures

I did not take this picture, but I wish that I did! Beautiful!

These are the people

That are doing my front lawn this Spring. It will be beautiful!Stauffer Lawn & Landscape, LLC

Money and debt

Pap smear rap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYaU1xkZ-IA

A blog to ponderhttp://Both Right: Hillary Clinton is a Socialist

Both Right: Hillary Clinton is a Socialist

Puppy!http://All about Your Dog's Sleep on Squidoo

All about Your Dog's Sleep on Squidoo

Laptop

http://HP Laptops, Notebook Computers & Tablet PCs

video

http://Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass Surgery

Checking in

Yes I know I promised that I would write on my blog every day. Sometimes I just cannot think of much to say. I am just not very creative sometimes. Things are going well for me. I have made a promise to myself to do my personal income taxes before April comes around. In fact it is a New Years resolution , the only one that I make , and the only one that I have made every year for the past 3 years. One year, I got a pretty sizeable refund, so yes, I changed my exemption status. I simply do not like loaning the government money if i don't have to!I will get my taxes done just as soon as I get some more forms from my bank which I should get any day now. I have my w-2s, and the rest of the information I need other than the 1099s I need from my bank. I keep my filing simple and as concise as possible.I even listen to money talk on the radio and I must be getting REALLY old because I really enjoy it. I do not play the stock market. I tend to be VERY CONSERVATIVE with everything in my life, especially when it comes to my money. I like having some fun every now and then, but I am at that point in my life when I need to start planning for retirement. That is if I ever do retire. LOL

Great site for economics debate

http://http://The Skeptical Optimist: Pie Chart of Who Owns the Debt, and Bar Chart of Who’s

Very interesting economics site.

http://http://The Skeptical Optimist: Pie Chart of Who Owns the Debt, and Bar Chart of Who’s

Hi

Well, it has been obscenely cold these past few days. Last night I took my two sweet Girls home. They simply cannot stay outside in this ccccold Kansas night. Had they day off fo work today so I kept my critters home and inside. Schatzi is by far the laziest one of the bunch. Dogs are generally very lazy. Mine definitely won't do housework or the shopping, LOL. They have just sat around all day today eating my food and looking beautiful while watching tv. What a hard life they lead.

More from Cjonline.com

Renaissance trial to beginFormer CEO faces 148 counts of fraud, money laundering
By Steve Fry
The Capital-Journal
Published Monday, January 14, 2008
Marcy Szarama, a Los Angeles businesswoman, was looking for reliable tax advice in July 2000 when some acquaintances raved about Renaissance, The Tax People, saying the Topeka-based firm gave good tax advice.

Today, the three-week jury trial begins for Michael Craig Cooper, former Renaissance chief executive officer and founder, who is charged with 148 counts alleging he and others "agreed to cheat clients out of money through false or fraudulent representations about their program," generating about $84 million from investors, court records said.


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Michael Cooper has been incarcerated since 2004

COOPER CHARGES

• One count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and to commit mail fraud and wire fraud

• 56 counts of assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns

• 36 counts of mail fraud

• 11 counts of wire fraud

• One count of conspiracy to commit money laundering

• 41 counts of engaging in monetary transactions of criminally derived property worth more than $10,000

• Two counts of money laundering

The trial will be conducted by U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia in the Robert J. Dole U.S. Courthouse in Kansas City, Kan.

Szarama said she joined Renaissance, but when she called the company for tax advice, she was put on hold and heard only recordings about how to sell Renaissance products.

At meetings, company officials tried to sell marketing materials and coached members on how to sell more Renaissance products to more people, she said last week.

There was a "lot of fluff" and not much substance, she said.

"They gave me really bad tax advice," said Szarama, who had to pay about $2,000 in back taxes because she underpaid her taxes based on Renaissance advice.

About six months after she joined Renaissance, Szarama said she got out because she found it to be a waste of time and money and she "detected a cult vibe." Overall, she lost about $4,000, she said.

After about five years, Szarama said, she got back about $2,000 in restitution for what she spent on Renaissance but no money for the tax penalties she paid.

Renaissance, The Tax People, billed itself as a multilevel marketing agency aimed at helping its clients avoid taxes. The company sold a "tax-relief system" instructing home-based business owners on how to take tax deductions on their businesses, which usually was selling the Renaissance tax-relief system.

But by May 15, 2001, a Shawnee County District Court judge had shut down Renaissance, pegging the business as an illegal pyramid scheme, and froze the assets of the company and defendants.

About 125 prosecution witnesses have been called to testify against Cooper, including seven co-defendants who were Renaissance executives or employees and who made plea agreements.

Cooper is the only defendant left in the case.

Cooper has remained incarcerated since Oct. 25, 2004, when he was arrested near Laredo, Texas, while crossing the border from Mexico. Cooper had failed to return to the United States 17 months after a Shawnee County District Court judge allowed him to travel to Mexico to recover $2 million in company assets. When he didn't return as ordered, Cooper forfeited a $1 million bond.

Once Cooper was apprehended, a federal magistrate judge denied him bond, saying Cooper didn't face his problems in state court like an adult when he chose to remain in Mexico.

Cooper's Renaissance began to unwind publically on Oct. 11, 2000, when federal agents wearing raid gear descended on company headquarters in the old Fleming Mansion at S.W. 10th and Gage. While surprised shoppers in the nearby shopping center gaped, officers from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other agencies executed search warrants.

In the days following the raid, people loyal to Renaissance sent "pep rally e-mails" assuring one another that Cooper was being persecuted, Szarama said.

The May 15, 2001, order by Shawnee County District Judge Richard Anderson followed a lengthy hearing.

In his ruling, Anderson wrote, "Defendants have seduced consumers into joining their illegal pyramid scheme through the use of specious guarantees of tax deductions and savings, false assurances of legality and misleading promises of unlimited income opportunity."

During the hearing, Cooper took the witness stand, gave his name and a few other details but invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at least 55 times in 40 minutes of testimony.

Anderson issued a final judgment of more than $29 million against the defendants and on behalf of Kansans, according to court records. That included more than $13 million in civil penalties under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act and more than $13 million in consumer damages.

Federal investigators confiscated $9 million during the probe.

A federal grand jury returned an initial indictment against Cooper on Aug. 13, 2004. A follow-up indictment was filed Dec. 6, 2006.

Steve Fry can be reached

at (785) 295-1206 or steve.fry@cjonline com.

� �
You may delay, but time will not.~Ben Franklin

Hoping to be banded soon!







Reply to Message Mark Message Unread

(Msg Id: 340300:743155)

Wow

Edmund Hillary, First Atop Everest, Dies
By RAY LILLEY,AP
Posted: 2008-01-10 21:49:51
Filed Under: World News
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Jan. 10) - Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.

The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be called "Ed" and considering himself just an ordinary beekeeper.


Photo Gallery
Wayne Drought, AP Climbing Icon
Passes Away1 of 7 New Zealand's Sir Edmund Hillary, the famously humble beekeeper who became an international celebrity for scaling Mount Everest more than fifty years ago, died at 88. He is survived by his wife June and his children Peter and Sarah. Here, the mountaineering legend is seen giving a speech in Antarctica on Jan. 20, 2007.

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was a heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity," Clark said in a statement.

"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.

Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement — and by his personal humility. Humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of climbing companion Tenzing Norgay.

He had pride in his feats. Returning to base camp as the man who took the first step onto the top of the world's highest peak, he declared: "We knocked the bastard off."

The accomplishment as part of a British climbing expedition even added luster to the coronation of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II four days later, and she knighted Hillary as one of her first act.

But he was more proud of his decades-long campaign to set up schools and health clinics in Nepal, the homeland of Tenzing Norgay, the mountain guide with whom he stood arm in arm on the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953.

He wrote of the pair's final steps to the top of the world: "Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no false cornice, no final pinnacle. We were standing together on the summit. There was enough space for about six people. We had conquered Everest.

"Awe, wonder, humility, pride, exaltation — these surely ought to be the confused emotions of the first men to stand on the highest peak on Earth, after so many others had failed," Hillary noted.

"But my dominant reactions were relief and surprise. Relief because the long grind was over and the unattainable had been attained. And surprise, because it had happened to me, old Ed Hillary, the beekeeper, once the star pupil of the Tuakau District School, but no great shakes at Auckland Grammar (high school) and a no-hoper at university, first to the top of Everest. I just didn't believe it.

He said: "I removed my oxygen mask to take some pictures. It wasn't enough just to get to the top. We had to get back with the evidence. Fifteen minutes later we began the descent."

His philosophy of life was simple: "Adventuring can be for the ordinary person with ordinary qualities, such as I regard myself," he said in a 1975 interview after writing his autobiography, "Nothing Venture, Nothing Win."

Close friends described him as having unbounded enthusiasm for both life and adventure.

"We all have dreams — but Ed has dreams, then he's got this incredible drive, and goes ahead and does it," long-time friend Jim Wilson said in 1993.

Hillary summarized it for schoolchildren in 1998, when he said one didn't have to be a genius to do well in life.

"I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it," he said before planting some endangered Himalayan oaks in the school grounds.

The planting was part of his program to reforest upland areas of Nepal.

Hillary remains the only non-political person outside Britain honored as a member of the Britain's Order of the Garter, bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II on just 24 knights and ladies living worldwide at any time.

He reached the summit of Everest four days before Elizabeth was crowned Queen of Britain and the Empire on June 2, 1953. She immediately knighted the angular, self-deprecating Hillary, who was just 33.

Throughout his 88 years, he was always the atypical "typical New Zealander" who spoke his mind.

In his 1999 book "View from the Summit," Hillary finally broke his long public silence about whether it was he or Norgay who was the first man to step atop Everest.

"We drew closer together as Tenzing brought in the slack on the rope. I continued cutting a line of steps upwards. Next moment I had moved onto a flattish exposed area of snow with nothing by space in every direction," Hillary wrote.

"Tenzing quickly joined me and we looked round in wonder. To our immense satisfaction we realized with had reached the top of the world."

Before Norgay's death in 1986, Hillary consistently refused to confirm he was first, saying he and the Sherpa had climbed as a team to the top. It was a measure of his personal modesty, and of his commitment to his colleagues.

He later recalled his surprise at the huge international interest in their feat. "I was a bit taken aback to tell you the truth. I was absolutely astonished that everyone should be so interested in us just climbing a mountain."

Hillary never forgot the small mountainous country that propelled him to worldwide fame. He revisited Nepal constantly over the next 54 years.

Without fanfare and without compensation, Hillary spend decades pouring energy and resources from his own fund-raising efforts into Nepal through the Himalayan Trust he founded in 1962.

Known as "burra sahib" — "big man," for his 6 feet 2 inches — by the Nepalese, Hillary funded and helped build hospitals, health clinics, airfields and schools.

He raised funds for higher education for Sherpa families, and helped set up reforestation programs in the impoverished country. About $250,000 a year was raised by the charity for projects in Nepal.

A strong conservationist, he demanded that international mountaineers clean up thousands of tons of discarded oxygen bottles, food containers and other climbing debris that litter the lower slopes of Everest.

His commitment to Nepal took him back more than 120 times. His adventurer son Peter has described his father's humanitarian work there as "his duty" to those who had helped him.

It was on a visit to Nepal that his first wife, Louise, 43, and 16-year-old daughter Belinda died in a light plane crash March 31, 1975.

Hillary remarried in 1990, to June Mulgrew, former wife of adventurer colleague and close friend Peter Mulgrew, who died in a passenger plane crash in the Antarctic. He is survived by his wife and children Peter and Sarah.

His passport described Hillary as an "author-lecturer," and by age 40 his schedule of lecturing and writing meant he had to give up beekeeping "because I was too busy."

By that time he was touring, lecturing and fund-raising for the Himalayan Trust in the United States and Europe for three months at a time, speaking at more than 100 venues during a tour.

He was known as ready to take risks to achieve his goals, but always had control so that nobody ever died on a Hillary-led expedition.

He was at times controversial. He decried what he considered a lack of "honest-to-God morality" in New Zealand politics in the 1960s, and he refused to backtrack when the prime minister demanded he withdraw the comments. Ordinary New Zealanders applauded his integrity.

He got into hot water over what became known as his "dash to the Pole" in the 1957-58 Antarctic summer season aboard modified farm tractors while part of a joint British-New Zealand expedition.

Hillary disregarded instructions from the Briton leading the expedition and guided his tractor team up the then-untraversed Shelton Glacier, pioneering a new route to the polar plateau and the South Pole.

In 2006 he climbed into a row over the death of Everest climber David Sharp, stating it was "horrifying" that climbers could leave a dying man after an expedition left the Briton to die high on the upper slopes.

Hillary said he would have abandoned his own pioneering 1953 climb to save another life.

"It was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say 'good morning' and pass on by," he said. "Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain."

Named New Zealand's ambassador to India in the mid-1980s, Hillary was the celebrity of the New Delhi cocktail circuit. He later said he found the job confining.

He introduced jetboats to many Ganges River dwellers a decade earlier, in 1977, when his "Ocean to the Sky" expedition traveled the Ganges by jetboat to within 130 miles of its source.

The last segment was by foot, and two mountain peaks near Badranath, where the Ganges rises, were also climbed. He sought adventure in places as distant from each other as the Arctic and Antarctic.

Hillary didn't place himself among top mountaineers. "I don't regard myself as a cracking good climber. I'm just strong in the back. I have a lot of enthusiasm and I'm good on ice," he said.

Despite his fame, he spoke of being "really embarrassed" even when introduced at a lecture.

"I really am an ordinary person with a few abilities which I've tried to use in the best way I can," he said.

The first living New Zealander to be featured on a banknote, he helped raise nearly $530,000 for the Himalayan Trust by signing 1,000 of the sparkling new five-dollar bills sold at a charity auction in 1982. They were snapped up by collectors round the world.

Honored by the United Nations as one of its Global 500 conservationists in 1987, he was also awarded numerous honorary doctorates from universities in several parts of the world.

One of his accolades was the Smithsonian Institution's James Smithson Bicentennial Medal for his "monumental explorations and humanitarian achievements," awarded in 1998.

Throughout his life Hillary remembered his first mountain he climbed, the 9,645-foot Mount Tapuaenuku — "Tappy" as he called it — in Marlborough on New Zealand's South Island. He scaled it solo over three days in 1944, while in training camp with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II. "Tapuaenuku" in Maori means "footsteps of the Rainbow God".

"I'd climbed a decent mountain at last," he said later.

Like all good mountaineers before him, Hillary had no special insight into that quintessential question: Why climb?

"I can't give you any fresh answers to why a man climbs mountains. The majority still go just to climb them."


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-01-10 18:13:56

Baby brother

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

My computer has been driving me nuts lately.!!! I hit shift and then a letter to captialize when starting sentences and then the caps lock key has been coming on! And this computer is not even a year old! Blah! I am ready to smash it! Arrgh! Ok, not really. It did a virus scan the other nightand my very excellent anti-virus software blocked a virus that attempted to come my way. It also gives me warnings and lets me know which links are safe to open andwhich ones not to. Some(ok, most) of the errors that happen with my computer are due to operator error(yours truly). I have been doing some serious thinking about my next computer. After this desktop shoots craps, I think I will buy myself a laptop. They look a bit more expensive than desktops, but the prices look to be coming down.

Happy New Year